7 reasons why Time Capsule houses fascinate us

In my 10 years of blogging here on Retro Renovation, the stories 100% guaranteed to grab folks’ eyeballs are: Time Capsule Houses. I now have more than 100 time capsule houses documented in my archive, and they get lotsa love here and on our 107,000-friends Facebook page. Because of my early and ongoing reporting about time capsule houses, I’ve been interviewed about time capsule homes for pretty big newspaper stories by biggies the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. A while back, another media outlet asked to interview me on why people love time capsule houses so much. They did not end up running the interview, so I did more work on my Q&A and here you go: Why do we love looking inside time capsule houses so much?

1. What do you think the appeal is of “time capsule homes”?

Let me count the ways:

We’re nosy: We humans are such social creatures. It’s always fascinating to look inside other people’s houses. And to look inside houses that have been unchanged for 40 or 50 or 60 years – even better. Not only are we able to see the interesting vintage decor, but we also get to imagine the back stories about the people who lived there so very many years without changing much. Decades lived in one house! Those houses meant a lot to their owners!

We’re nostalgic: Lots of these houses remind us of… grandma’s house and the most carefree days of our childhoods — a warm and fuzzy for a lot of people. I also think there’s nostalgia around the idea that in previous generations, you could actually expect to live in one house most of your adult life. That is not as possible today, when so many of us are forced to move fairly often because of job changes.

We want to copy: If you are the owner of a vintage house that has been changed over the years, original time capsule homes are great resource to “see how it was done”. I inspect all the photos of time capsule houses that I feature very carefully, to look for ideas that can be replicated — architectural trim, decor, kitchen layout, all kinds of ideas jump out, whether the house is middle-class mid-century modest or a more expensive, architect-designed model.

We’re visually smarter than ever: I also think that the internet has made many people much more visual. That is, by seeing, online, so many more images of so very many things, we learn to see the beauty in more, different things. Visually, we no longer live in design and decorating “bubbles” predetermined for us by just a few magazines or television stations. A great big, messy, beautiful world of design is literally at our fingertips. Time capsule houses capture real-life design history at a given point in time — and even if we don’t “love” the look initially, by learning where it came from, we can learn to appreciate it. No single era has cornered the market on what is beautiful, in terms of interior design. Decorating trends grow out of technology combined with marketing (fashion) and even some sociology/social history thrown in.

Weird is wonderful: Today, so many people feel like they can’t personalize their house too much, in case they need to put it up for sale. Back in the day, though, this did not seem to be so much a worry, so people did some wild — and highly personal – things in their houses. The time capsule houses that … pushed the envelope in terms of the design and decor often are the ones that go viral-crazy.

We’re cowards when it comes to color: and time capsule houses make us brave. That exciting paint color Gray has been the #1 paint color for like 10 years now. News flash! It’s now being replaced by … white. Has there ever been a period in American life so devoid of colors in our interiors? When a time capsule house shows us flamboyant green flowered wallpaper on all four walls and the ceiling, we see: Yes, it can be done. They did it. And they survived. Okay, so maybe we won’t go that far. But maybe just maybe: Green paint?

We want to buy one: Yes, there is growing number of people seeking out time capsule houses to buy for themselves.

2. What kind of a home shopper seeks out one of these homes over, say, new construction?

Time capsule house hunters are, I think, highly visual – they have very keen design sensibilities. They can see past any worn surfaces, for example, to see the gorgeous architecture and original features of a time capsule house. They also recognize that many of these old homes have been built with very high quality and craftsmanship that could be very expensive to replicate in new construction today. Finally, we would prefer to buy a house with its original features, rather than one that’s been “remuddled.” We don’t want to pay for other people’s renovations that have not been done in harmony with the home’s original architecture. Better that the house is untouched, we will do the rest.

3. What are the hallmarks of a time capsule home?

There was just one owner or set of owners, and they were so happy with their house and its original decor that they changed very little over all the succeeding years. What we love: Original kitchens, bathrooms, floors, lighting, and I am the world’s largest lover of original vintage wallpaper no matter how ‘crazy’ it might seem today. We also love it when a time capsule house has rare features, like a Hall-Mack recessed bathroom scale or “Relaxation Unit.” There was a lot of inventiveness during the midcentury housing boom – lots of fun things to find in these houses. Note, time capsule houses can be either “midcentury modern” or “midcentury modest.” Modest as in, like your grandma’s house. Many of these mainstream middle class tract houses were kind of… unpretentious on the outside… but on the inside, they could be just as well built — with features as fancy — as architect-design moderns – we’ve seen some gorgeous midcentury modest time capsule houses over the years.

I will add, though, that there are certain things that are not desirable in old houses — namely, materials and products that may contain hazards. Be sure to Be Safe/Renovate Safe!

4. Why are time capsule houses so trendy right now?

With each passing year since I started my blog in 2006, I’ve seen interest grow in midcentury homes and décor. There are a number of reasons for the revival. First, enough time has passed that we can now look back and recognize the best design features of these homes. There always seems to be a gap period about 30-40 years after a home style is popularized when it falls out of favor. Then, our vision clears, and the best of the old, discarded era is re-popularized. Time capsule houses, if they have been well-maintained over the years, allow us to see how real people lived. They also are a whole-house parallel of what the Keno Brothers on Antiques Roadshow taught me when I first started watching many years ago: Original patina rocks. Mess with it at your own risk.

5. What has been your favorite time capsule home so far?

I didn’t have to think more than a second to come up with this answer: Early in the blog’s history, Meredith, a reader, alerted me to a 1955 time capsule bungalow in St. Louis. Not only was it an original owner property, but the original owners had never lived in the upstairs. Original story here. Following up on our story, I contacted the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and they also did a story about the house. I love this time capsule house the most, because it was among my first, but moreover, because it indicates just how very much their houses meant to people of modest means.

6. Is there something to be said about keeping one’s home decor for so long that it actually becomes stylish again?

Yes, especially if you are not made of money. In days gone by, when we were much less affluent as a nation, folks would save a long time (remember ‘lay-away’?) to buy quality pieces of furniture — which were quite expensive compared to today — that they would expect to have the rest of their lives and pass down to their children, too.

Today we move a lot more — so we may change our decor to better suit the next space. Changing things up also is made more possible because we are more affluent, and many products also cost much less, in real terms, often because they are imported from countries where labor is much less expensive. So, it seems “easier” to keep changing out your decor.

Heck, it is not a pathology to keep your decor for years and years. Clearly, some people will use their discretionary income to change up their interiors more than other people do. But, that does not mean that people who stick with their first choice decorating for decades are misguided.

7. We’ve seen great time capsule homes right up through the 70s. But it seems that no one really wants a completely intact 1980s home. Do you think that’ll change? Or are the 80s just beyond hope for any comeback as far as decor goes?

If it’s harmonious, appropriate, quality design, it will come back. We just have a few decades to go on these style revivals.

What do you think, readers?
Do you love looking inside time capsule houses — and if so, why?

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Comments

I recall reading that design trends tend to go in 40 year cycles – about one generation. Thirties deco was big in the 70’s, MCM came back big in the 2000’s, and now I’m seeing a lot of design elements that remind me of the 70’s. It may take another 5 years or so until the pastel blue and pink Miami Vice look of the 80’s returns and we can push up those sleeves, ditch those socks, break out the shoulder pads, blow up the hair, and get jiggy with it!

Ikea had a recent collection with fabric that looked super 80’s to me so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it making a hard comeback sooner than later https://tinyurl.com/y9wsloa3 (plus the 80’s clothing trend has been around my city for 5-8 years now). I will thankfully pass on a majority of it 🙂

#1 had me laughing! I’m so nosy, even as a kid in the 60s I loved going to friends houses to see what their house looked like! I started collecting vintage clothing in the 70s when “vintage” was Victorian-30s (and dirt cheap). I had to pass up so many amazing pieces of furniture, housewares, textiles as I still lived at home. Even through the 80s when I was living in NYC I moved around so much (crazy roommates, moved to London) I still couldn’t collect everything I wanted, just some textiles and housewares (and loads more clothing, it’s when I started vending). After I got married, we moved into a massive pre-WWII apartment with all original features (except for the gorgeous insane 60s hanging ceiling light in the foyer). It was in Brooklyn Heights, an ancient historical neighbourhood (much filming there as it was pretty much untouched dating back to at the very least 18th century, loads of houses by the East River had tunnels from the Underground Railroad!) & every night we’d go for walks exploring as people left their drapes open & we could be nosy! By my parents house there’s a little community built by Frank Lloyd Wright (for some reason never mentioned). Anytime there was a tag sale, I’d go just so I could poke around the houses. Our current home was built in 1930 (Dutch colonial) with some original features – the previous owner did some h****** [edited] stuff we ripped out. The kitchen is old but very low quality (70s) so I found original Geneva metal cabinets that will eventually get installed when $ isn’t so tight. It’s a tough kitchen with a doorway & 2 entryways, but the home we got it from was built the same year & set up exactly the same (plus I got an amazing deal for so many cabinets!). I’m of the mind that everyone “modernises” a house now so I’ve made it ours since we have to live here. Sadly I’m sure when we move I’m sure it’ll get a modern makeover. (Might wind up holding on to them as we’ve been here 17 years & I want to move back to the city, every single apt I lived in had those cabinets or similar wooden ones, or if it’s a condo I can install them there rather than leave them only to see them heading for a landfill😢) Thanks for the Q&A, I was nodding in agreement throughout! ⚡️Jet

I think we are also fascinated by how people lived in the past and time capsules give us a peek at the past. I’m a historian and when I tell people that, the response is generally, “ooh, I hate history.” But when I talk about the personal lives of people in the past, people perk up and are super interested. It cracks me up. I think a lot of people are scarred from high school history classes because they think the study of history is memorizing dates. But when I can make it interesting and relevant, most people really enjoy hearing about the past. Time capsules have the added benefit of being visual and “real.”

So, Robin, you are basically a social historian? American history or other? One of my favorite reads is anything about colonial social history. When I was young, our teachers taught us about the battles of the American Revolution, for example, without giving us a clue as to how people lived and interacted within communities during the times leading up to it. To me, that is the most interesting part. And the social history of the 1950s and 1960s is just as interesting, more so because I lived during those decades.

Yep, American history. I prefer social history. I find it really interesting to try to get into the minds of our ancestors. The past is definitely a foreign country! I like to study the recent past- 1890s to today.

Reminds me of when my young cousin (then about 9 years old) came to tour my recently purchased 1959 house with many of the original features. When she was done, she said, “Wow! You are actually living in history!” Like me, it’s the physical artifacts of history that she most enjoys.

I think in addition the can also be traditional, but of the period and also something that is high-end-decorator-eclectic. There are forms of traditional that are clearly of the period. In the first case I grew up in a house that had very traditional and reproduction Williamsburg furniture and the entire house save two rooms was furnished in 1969, and two rooms were done in 1975. The 1969 rooms were all redecorated in 1987 (no new furniture) and the 1975 rooms were never redecorated. The house was sold in 2014.

There were very famous rooms done by decorators and designers like Michael Taylor, Mark Hampton, and Tony Duquette that survived for decades, and I see a lot of very custom rooms that have to be 40 years old. They are clearly of the period, but not really midcentury modern or modest. But even the traditional rooms look different than they would have had they been done in a different decade. And even people like Brooke Astor, who was made of money, was happy to have time capsule rooms.

In addition to “weird is wonderful” levels of commitment, there was also a “just beautiful” level of commitment. And some of these rooms are just beautiful…and if someone does a full-on room of custom matching drapes and upholstery or bedding, there is not really a half measure where you can just throw in a different bedspread or chair and have it work.

With regards to 1980s revival, that really started maybe ten years ago, but it’s really only the Late-Modernist, Post-Modernist style that has been revived. Late modernist furniture by designers like Karl Springer and Vladimir Kagan, and post-modernist furniture by Memphis Movement designers like Ettore Sottsass, and selling briskly and at premium prices. The current work of Kelly Wearstler seems to be mostly rooted in 1980s late modern/art deco revival.

There is a fair amount of late modernist-post modernist architecture with intact interiors coming onto the real estate market in the New Jersey,New York markets and other urban markets. But really the revivals are going to be triggered by what comes on the vintage furniture market, and first on some “street” level and by designers.
I don’t know that there will ever be a duck or goose in a bonnet revival, just like other styles of furniture or decor within certain periods have not ever experienced a strong revival.

My husband and i have been fans of mid century design and kitsch for many years. Your website has really inspired, helped, and informed us in so many ways. Over the last year, we have sold our 2007 custom home, are currently renting a 1954 mcm ranch, and are in the process of purchasing our dream home- a 1942 daylight ranch. It was updated in 1966 and full of vintage fabulous! Thank you for your awesome site and all the inspiration!!

We have such a throw-away culture here–that’s why we find time capsules so weird. But go to Europe or anywhere where houses are much older and you will find many homes with at least whole, untouched rooms that have been that way not just for decades but even 100+ years. The furniture and other stuff gets passed down from generation to generation. I’ve also seen this in older parts of the US like New England or the south.

Very true! In Europe & the U.K. they tend to buy quality, have it until it falls apart, then often finding ways to revive it or repurpose it. They do this with clothing as well. Perhaps the last 20 years (maybe 30) have they become more of a “fashion fashion” and mass decor consumers.

As a European I beg to differ 🙂
Part of my personal fascination with the mid century time capsules on this blog is because we don’t really have time capsules in here in Germany.
There are a lot of old buildings around and people live in them but I wouldn’t know anybody who didn’t update a room in 100+ years.
Of course some features of the period a house was build in will always be found but especially houses from the 50s and 60s can rarely be found unaltered or period updated nowadays. To my knowledge there is no German blog about mid century time capsule homes.
Part of that surely has to do with the German anomaly of over half of the population living in rentals.
So when you rent an appartment in a 1890s house that hasn’t been built as an apartment house you’ll have wooden floors and heigh ceilings (11-13feet) with stucco if you’re lucky but the bathroom and kitchen will be added later. So it’s obviously a turn of the century place but far from time capsule. Also the majority of Germans was poor in the 50s and there was a massive shortage of housing. The ones wealthy enough to build good quality houses stayed wealthy and most likely updated when the appliances were too far away from state of the art. Poor people building houses had to replace their poor quality bathroom and kitchens eventually as well as the cheap furniture. Pattern matched curtains and upholstery are a novelty to me as well, but they might’ve been around. Also rental appartments don’t always come with kitchens so they get ripped out regularly.
Unless the mid century house has some good quality floor, the floors and doors as well as kitchens and bathrooms got redone due to higher living standards, even if the house stayed in the same family.
As for furniture, heaps of people buy cheap furniture that falls apart after mocing house once or twice, is it really that much worse in the US?
So far I was always under the impression that people tend to buy long lasting better quality furniture once they can afford it and give the old ones to younger relations/charity if the furniture’s not totally worn out 🙂

So in a nutshell, I love the mid century time capsules cause we don’t have them in Europe and when this style was popular not a lot of people could afford the features normal people in the US could afford.

The house my parents moved us in to in 1974 was a brand new tract house. They were disappointed to realize how junky it was and that it was just another cheap, massed-produced crackerbox that a developer threw up all over the land to make money from. Both their parent’s had built their own family homes with lasting quality. Even the little houses my family lived in before the tract house were of good quality, just not big enough for an expanding family. The sweet little time capsules of today are all that’s left of those.

Around Reno there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that time capsule houses are trendy other than to “update” & flip. It broke my heart to see the cute house from which the guy was giving me the free pink toilet on craigslist. Oh, if that had been my house that pink bathroom would become more deliciously pink and the blue one I can imagine with blue and mint and butter…

Of the time capsules you’ve given us Noelle’s pink masonite paneled bathroom stands out for me. Just YUM. I’m waiting right now for Wilsonart to get back to me about an idea in that direction.

There’s one more reason people like them — they are built amazingly well. Go into a post-70s house and noise travels like crazy. My 60’s era home (basic/boring Dutch colonial) is plaster over drywall and each room is its own little capsule. Studs are closer together than current building codes and the attic is so overbuilt I decided not to renovate because there were just too many beams to deal with. Not to mention that there IS a full attic.

Am working on a 50s time capsule home that is built like a bomb shelter. Plaster over metal grid over lathes. Sadly the master bath and kitchen were too far gone to save, but am using vintage sinks, vanity, wallpaper and tile to keep the feel alive. We refinished the paneling that had been covered with mold and it gleams. Two bathrooms are untouched and no significant structural changes to the house. There’s a lot of stone and each piece of paneling was cut to exactly follow the contours of the stone, all the way to the ceiling. This wasn’t some wildly expensive home, either — two bedrooms and a semi-finished basement (with tiki bar).

Nothing new can touch this sort of construction — the fact it survived more or less intact (including being empty for 8 years) is a testimony to good, solid construction. They don’t make them like that any more.

I live in an Eichler home (1955 MCM) in California, but I grew up in a 1944 Colonial in the midwest, furnished with early 20th century antiques and low-end “colonial” furnishings, which were popular from the 1950’s right up through the Bicentennial years. (And now in revival.) The comment above about “duck or goose in bonnet” style makes me laugh & cry – that is my mother to a T! She is going on 92 with dementia. I may have complicated feelings about the bonnet-wearing poultry, and also the 80’s, but I love my mom, and nostalgia and the other 6 of Pam’s reasons are the pond in which I swim, for sure!

I love any time capsule. I am *so* tired of gray & white flips. And this was a wonderful article!

I can’t add anything to the list but I, too, am nosy. Growing up in the ’60’s in small-town WI, most of the homes (usually farmhouses) I was in were from the 1910’s to WWII. Then, going to the new ranches (1950’s), it was pretty much run thru the K to the kid’s bdrm and back outside again. I saw blonde wood and round drawer pulls. Our neighbors DID have a cool house because it was a ranch over the garage and built into the hill! And their bathroom sink was in a cabinet (vanity)! Both sets of grandparents first got indoor toilets in the ’70’s.
In the ’70’s family friends built new and one was really into the Colonial(?) – red-brick ranch, fireplace, and Early American furniture. Another had the paneling with a wooded scene and a deer in the DR.
There were houses that made big impressions on me – the farmhouse with well-thought out additions (except the awful fluorescent light in the LR – ?!) – a powder room! The Cape Cod with a wall range and counter cook-top. We THINK this is the same house with the poodle toilet seat but I can only say for sure the downstairs bath was gray and the upstairs startled your eyes so it could’ve been pink.
PrimroseRoad – really! when did we decide we didn’t need attics?! Even if it was only big enough to put the tangled Christmas lights and ornaments.
We all have ideas of how a mansion should look like but when we snoop in MCm houses, we’ve got the big eyes – “ooh, look at this!” about cute or clever features. My absolute favorite is bridge hands in the basement linoleum – too funny!
Like the rest of the commenters, I could go on for hours about this and that. My hope is that new home owners look at the special features and decide a little Spic’n’Span is all their “new” house needs.

I was looking for these houses last week. I’m so glad it was in the blog this week. I have two favorites: The Better Homes and Garden House and the Totally tiled house in Mn with 8 bathrooms. I like this website and I’m like a kid in a candy store looking at these houses. When I can’t sleep I always go back to these houses and dream. I used to love to do to home Reno but after having several back surgeries I can no longer do this. Being a kid of 60s and 70s I’m a mid century modern freak. I especially love the houses before the 1960s because we never really knew anyone with these type houses. Your website also has so many historical elements. I have mentioned several times I wish you had a show on Tv. I think it would be very popular with us baby boomers. Can’t wait to see your lounge finished. Thanks for such a wonderful site.

This article tickles me to death because we are days away from closing on a time capsule home. 💓 1970 all original, foil wallpaper, shag carpet in good condition, the real deal.

I have been reading RetroReno since my first spine surgery went poorly in 2010 and Pam’s articles have helped me pass many hours of long, painful days and nights. I have always loved retro things and all of this new knowledge made it a MUST for me to find or build a retro home. After 7 years I have collected a bunch of Geneva cabinets to install, appliances, furniture, kitchenwares etc…

Even though it’s a true time capsule, I want to Retro It Up even more…YES, there will be a pink bathroom. They are all blue now, so I can change a few and have more fun colors. I am so happy to have this resource to help me make wise choices and where to find things.

Yes, time capsule homes are enchanting. This one has changed my whole life. Already trying to talk Mom out of 1/2 of her old stuff. Can we have an end of Summer uploader? LOL

In the late 1980s, we had friends who bought a large 1954 Dallas home and, immediately after closing, had us over to look at it. It was an amazing one owner, one story ranch style with 4,000 sf of all original everything – and all in perfect condition. All tile bathrooms, wood floors under all the carpeting, huge rooms, bedrooms with built-ins galore, and a kitchen with two – yes TWO – original built-in pull-out stainless steel dishwashers and side-by-side stainless steel wall ovens with porthole windows. There were 4 bedrooms and 3.5 tile baths on one side and another bedroom and full bath on the other side off near the kitchen and laundry room (probably originally for the maid). We were slack-jawed as we roamed around that place and practically giddy with excitement over all the original everything.

THEN they started talking about the planned remodeling that was going to occur. Everything except the wood floors was getting ripped out because it was so OLD. I was heartbroken. I’ll admit they had excellent taste (she was an interior designer) and it was absolutely gorgeous when it was completed….but the soul was gone.

Pam, I’ve always been nosy about houses! Probably that’s how I found your blog! I’m a baby boomer and have that special place in my heart for mid century homes. When I was a kid I dreamt of living in an ultra modern ranch. Wow is the term ultra modern dating me or what? I grew up in a tract post WW 2 cape and admired all sorts of house styles. My grandparents had a gorgeous two story with plenty of built ins and a laundry chute that entertained the kids when we visited. Right now I’m in a 50s L shaped ranch complete with knotty pine kitchen and bathroom!
My neice lives in one of the original Mr. Blanding dream houses that were built in 1950 after the movie was such a hit. It’s an absolute stunner of a house.
I read an interesting article a few years back that chronicled styles from the 1890s until the 1990s. Ironically, each decade had easily recognizable styles in all areas homes, cars, clothing etc. But since the 1990s we’ve been in a holding pattern. The last three decades haven’t produced the innovative design changes the previous century did at almost decade length regularity. So where will we go after our return to the 1980s?
Thanks for your wonderful blog! Can’t wait to see the final shots of the tiki lounge!